In Pete McMartin's column in last Saturday's Vancouver Sun, the mayor of Vancouver, Gregor Robertson, was quoted as saying, "People are arriving here whether we like it or not, so those of us who live here... are under increasing pressure. And that's the way of the world. We're not going to pull up the drawbridge and seal off Vancouver. That's not realistic. We've got to deal with growth that comes our way and shape it..."
In South Delta, it oft times appears that we haven't given up on the notion of pulling up the drawbridge. Our pages are full of dispute over the Marina Gardens build out, the MK Delta Lands development in North Delta and, of course, that perennial issue, the Southlands. There are a variety of reasons brought forth to oppose new developments that fall into two main categories: environmental concerns and traffic.
The concerns on traffic generally relate to backlogs at the George Massey Tunnel, although sometimes they are more local than that. I remember during the hearings on the redevelopment of Tsawwassen Springs to include residential property on the site there were complaints there would be so much traffic there would be back-ups for people leaving Imperial Village! That development is not built out yet, but I don't notice any problem traversing 52nd Street. The only thing slowing me down on the stretch from Imperial Hill to Highway 17 is the unnecessary traffic light at the entrance to Tsawwassen Springs.
Methinks the issue of traffic is a hot button item for those of us who commute north of the Fraser River in single-occupied vehicles, but as aggravating as the tunnel can be, the commute was worse 10 years ago than it is now.
However, the plans by the Ministry of Transportation to convert Highway 17 into single lane for access to Highway 99 strikes me as particularly daft. They anticipate that Tsawwassen commuters will be happy to drive the longer distance via the South Fraser Perimeter Road to hook up with Highway 99 further back from the tunnel.
(I thought the original idea was to separate the heavy truck traffic from regular commuter traffic. I hope the people who designed the SFPR aren't the same group who designed the Steveston Highway exit from Highway 99. As former Delta mayor Doug Husband has stated on these pages, the back-ups at this exit are a large part of the problem with congestion at the tunnel in the morning rush.) The big unknown related to traffic is Tsawwassen Shores, the residential development proposed by the Tsawwassen First Nation. Depending on the success of that project and any related commercial development, there could be a significant change in traffic volumes. Hopefully the Ministry of Transportation has factored that in before it began ripping up the current Highway 17.
As Mayor Robertson said, people are arriving here whether we like it or not, so we need to make the best of it. Currently most of the population growth has been in Surrey, but we can't expect that to continue in perpetuity.
